We are living during a great time of change. I can feel the frenetic energy, which seems to have been building for quite some time. While change is ultimately beneficial, it often is accompanied by anxiety and stress. We know that anxiety and stress cause many health crises. How many books are written to help us reduce our stress and worries? How many talk shows are there? Yet, we continue to lead our fast paced lives.

As I mentioned in a previous newsletter, we need to make lifestyle changes. Fortunately, Flower Essences can help us make these changes. There are many Essences that can help with anxiety and stress; however, I think Blue Vervain, Eastern Hemlock, and Motherwort are particularly important for our changes ahead.

One note, these Essences are great for getting to the root of the stress and bringing sustaining relief and support for change. In an acute situation: an anxiety attack, an accident, a major injury, a stressful meeting, etc, I would (and do) use Bach’s Rescue Remedy. I carry this on me wherever I go and have a bottle in the car. I have seen it prevent people from going into shock after major injuries. Rescue Remedy comes in different forms, my preference is the spray as it is quick and easy to use.

Blue Vervain

Blue Vervain is my number one choice for a person suffering from anxiety. This essence is great for people who are doing too much, always on the go, always doing for everyone else, or who can’t sit still. Blue Vervain helps people who are “wound too tight”, who look like they are about to spring or burst.

We believe that Blue Vervain activates our Blue Channel. Simply put, we have the 7 major chakras. These are connected by a red channel and a blue channel. The red channel is moving upwards and helps to fire all the chakras, to get them moving faster. The blue channel is moving downwards and helps to calm the chakras. As you can imagine in our society, many people have very active red channels. Blue Vervain helps to calm this and bring the chakras into balance.

What I notice is that Blue Vervain is like a breath of fresh air. It gives a person the ability to take a pause and relax. During this time, she realizes how much better and more peaceful she feels; which then encourages her to make the lifestyle changes necessary to remain in this calmer place.

In general, I give an Essence to a person for a 3-5 week cycle, normally I feel that is enough time. Sometimes, we may revisit an Essence down the road. However, I often use Blue Vervain for several cycles. Rarely do I give Blue Vervain to a person for 1 cycle and not revisit ki. People often have very strong reactions to Blue Vervain. In this instance, strong is positive. They return feeling like a new person, or more appropriately, like their true selves. They feel stronger, happier, and calmer.

Eastern Hemlock

Eastern Hemlock is the Flower Essence to help with transition and change. Hemlock is the state tree of Pennsylvania. I first got to know him, when we built our straw-bale house. We chose to use him to enclose our foundation and as the ceiling in our bedrooms. Now, I live in a house made out of hemlock posts and beams. I love to look at him. He is so beautiful and strong. I constantly see figures and faces in his beams. While I love his wood, the tree is even more beautiful. He is slow growing and lives for a long time, up to 800 years! Imagine the wisdom contained in the Hemlock.

All Tree Essences have an affinity for the root chakra. They give support, strength, and protection. The Eastern Hemlock adds his wisdom to help us move through all forms of change. It can be a concrete change like switching a job. Or more abstract such as the planetary changes we are experiencing. Whatever the change, Eastern Hemlock can offer support.

Motherwort

Motherwort is an incredible herb. She is one of the first herbs that I started working with when I seriously began my herbal path. Even though I have been working with her for many years, I am constantly learning more of her gifts. She is amazing.

Motherwort’s form greatly describes her use to help with stress. For the non-herbie, she is a fairly non-descript, green plant. Her flowers form on tall spires. The flowers are small and pinkish-purplish. On close inspection they are amazingly beautiful. Motherwort’s signature is that she is gentle and soft until her flowers and seeds appear, then her spires become very spiky. She becomes the mother protecting her babies.

It is this edginess, this fierceness that makes her Flower Essence so wonderful. Motherwort Flower Essence helps us with our boundaries. Often when we are stressed, we are doing more than we want or should be doing. We are saying yes, when we don’t want to. What Motherwort does is helps us to strengthen our boundaries and learn that it is okay to say no. She helps us to fight for ourselves.

When we suffer from anxiety, often we feel disconnected, like we are all over the place. Motherwort helps to bring ourselves back together and gives us that strong protective place around us. I believe she gives us the ability to know what OUR problems and OUR requirements really are. Which helps one to feel centered.

As I said, there are many Essences that can help with stress and anxiety. These are the Essences that I think are helpful for the anxiety surrounding our planetary changes. Of course, if you have anxiety or want support to make lifestyle changes, I recommend meeting with a Flower Essence Practitioner or other healer.